Obsession
by Turk 4 Life
Summary: AU: Well into his second year of education at Eden University, Hope begins to spend more time in the library to 'study'. Smitten with the strict library girl on the tenth floor, the studious young man begins to spend more time in the pink haired woman's presence. However, his passive attempts to woo the strict woman are continuously sabotaged by the graceful woman's younger sister.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N: Okay, I know I have other stories that I have to write AND I know that I update really slowly BUT my hopexrai feels cannot be contained any longer and I just had to get this story out here to share! Hopefully you guys will enjoy this story- it's supposed to lighthearted and fun with a very simple plot-line and character dialogue. This is an AU so please just enjoy the story! I'm sure a lot of you will be able to relate to Hope's character- I mean I wrote it and I relate to him immensely! I'll probably be updating this story a whole lot more than the others I have posted simply because I am a university student and I draw from my personal experience at uni to write the situations Hope gets himself into during his time at Eden University! **

**01| It's Routine**

Hope Estheim had always been pegged as the studious type throughout his life. So when he began to frequent the library during his class breaks, none of his friends thought much of it. Sure, Yuj and Maqui would pull a few nerd jokes but it wasn't like Hope couldn't handle a few jokes at his own expense.

"That test was hard- damn I think I'm going to fail this course!" Maqui complained loudly. Yuj silently nodded along, running a hand through his midnight-blue hair.

"I agree." Hope sniggered at Maqui's reproachful expression.

"About the test being hard or…?"

Yuj sighed and turned to the young blond man walking beside him.

"About you failing this course, duh." Maqui rolled his eyes and slung an arm around Hope, bringing the silveret closer.

"Hope, I need your help- tutor me!" Hope sighed, massaging his temple with his free hand. He carried several notebooks under his other arm, all full of detailed notes about statistical analysis.

"It was an open book test, you couldn't have done that badly." Hope deadpanned as he shot a knowing look at the man beside him. The blond rolled his eyes and retracted his arm from Hope's shoulders, scowling.

"Fine, I see how it is! Just leave me to study here at Eden for the rest of my life while you go off and become some head honcho at the Academy!" Maqui then turned to Yuj, who had long since tuned out of their conversation. "And you! You can go and be fabulous in Palampolum with those other fabulous fashionista people that you talk about so much!" Yuj and Hope let out simultaneous sighs as they watched their good friend storm off towards the food court. Hope turned to the blue haired man and sent him a slight grin, which Yuj returned in kind.

"You heading off to the library again?" Yuj asked. Hope nodded, re-adjusting the grip he had on his notebooks. He had packed his lunch that morning so he didn't need to head to the food court.

"Yeah, I've got a paper due in two weeks that I need to start." Yuj rolled his eyes, but dismissed him nonetheless.

Life at Eden University had been like this for a while now, with Maqui storming off to eat away his sorrows over a possibly failed test, Yuj taking off to a computer lab to network with his designer friends and Hope setting off to the library with a home-made lunch.

Ever since _she_ started working on the tenth floor of Eden University's library, Hope had made it a point to spend as much time in the library in her presence as it was physically possible. There was something about the woman that just clicked with him. He was utterly stricken by her way of moving, her way of talking, her way of placing books away… and most of all, her way of glaring at him as she realised she was being ogled.

Now, didn't think of himself as a creep- as a matter of fact he had never been interested in girls. Up until a few months ago, Hope had been the centre of all gay jokes in his group of friends. Even Vanille, the nice one of the group, had begun to call him 'fairy-boy'- although that may have had to do with his horrible attempt at cosplaying as Link, the legendary hero from the ocarina of Time last Halloween.

However, that was beside the point. For months on end, ever since he started his education at Eden, he'd begun to think of himself as a man who liked other men. Not that there was anything wrong with that- he was totally tolerant towards same-gendered love and marriage. He even signed a petition to allow gay marriage in Cocoon! Hope didn't discriminate.

Despite this, being called gay by his closest friends wasn't pleasant, especially when he knew he wasn't gay. He did a few 'experiments' in the private confines of his room and timed his arousal rates to different types of 'fun videos'- not that he would ever admit it. But he had proof that he was indeed straight- or at last he thought he did. Therefore, Hope concluded, that he was fully capable of loving beautiful women with light pink locks and intense blue eyes.

Oh, how he thought about those intense blue eyes…

Hope sighed as he ran his free hand through his silver locks- they were getting long again. When his hair got long, he started to look more like his mother, which was understandable since he was her son. The young man, however, liked to look more like a man and therefore actively trimmed his hair at the five dollar barber just outside Eden university on the way back home once a month. His monthly haircut was slowly approaching. Hope grinned to himself momentarily before realising that he may have looked like a complete tool in front of a group of giggling girls standing outside the library.

The young man shook his head and took the steps two at a time before he got to the sliding doors of the library and made a beeline for the elevators.

'Level ten, level ten, I'm going to level ten!' Hope couldn't help but thank the Lord that he wasn't preaching his inner monologue out loud- the people waiting for the elevator along with him would have freaked out and called campus security.

Not that he was going to allow campus security to stop him from seeing his library girl.

Hope's cheeks flushed at the thought of the library girl being his. It could be possible- one day when he wasn't just a student… maybe once he graduated and started to really get into his research he could impress her and then they could get a white horse from some ranch and ride off into the sunset…

"That would be amazing…" Hope sighed quietly. Unfortunately, he completely failed to notice the presence of another human being in his personal space.

The other human being sniggered before poking Hope in the ribs. The young man let out an undignified squeal at the prod and glared down at the pink haired demon child who always seemed to find her way to him when he was anywhere near the elevators.

"You're thinking dirty thoughts about my sister, aren't you? You're a complete dick!" She giggled and twirled around the silveret in jest. Hope narrowed his eyes at the miniature library girl and wondered how the insolent girl before him was related to the epitome of grace that was his library girl. He blushed again at the thought. He felt another small finger prod at his side. "Have some restraint, you horn dog!"

Hope rolled his eyes and pointed his index finger in the younger girl's face.

"Aren't you a little too young to be talking in that way?" The girl pouted, and shrugged casually.

"I have special privileges that I can exercise due to me circumstances. Don't question my language choices you sleaze bag." Hope sighed and readjusted his grip on his notebooks before sending a glare the girl's way.

"Okay, whatever Lumina. Just leave me alone- I'm going to go and study." Lumina raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side.

"On the tenth floor?" She intoned with a conspiratorial sigh. Hope nodded, ignoring her knowing smirk.

"Yes." The young girl snorted as the elevator finally arrived. Hope sighed and gestured for the young girl to head on in before him, which he happily did- skipping all the three steps that were required to enter the small space. Hope dragged his feet in after her, attempting to ignore her cheeky grin.

He lasted for a grand total of three floors before he snapped.

"Oh, just shut up Lumina!"

The young girl giggled and shrugged her shoulders, her eyes wide and innocent as they reached the tenth floor.

"I don't know what you're talking about." As soon as the elevator doors were wide open, Lumina skipped out of the small space and headed over to Hope's reason to 'study'. Hope blushed again as he watched the library girl sternly reprimand the younger girl for making such a disruptive entrance before she lightly pinched her little sister's cheek and turned back to her work. Lumina turned towards Hope's usual study spot and stuck her tongue out and mouthing 'you don't know her name!'

Hope groaned inwardly and placed his notebooks on the study table before him and turned his head to watch as the library girl began to check on the numerous bookshelves in the level. He let a smile take over his annoyed features- successfully ignoring Lumina's attempts to distract him.

It was all routine, afterall.

_**Fun fact#1:** __Turk 4 Life actually spends 4-5 hours of her time at uni on Mondays and Thursdays in UNSW's tenth floor doing assignments that are due two weeks in the future just because she's a keen bean! (She does wish that maybe there was a hot guy working on level 10 or something but... we can't have everything, now can we? :O)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N: Hi everyone! I would just like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all the follows, favourites and reviews! They really mean a lot to me :) I will reply to guest reviews here following my author's note so look to the space below for your reply! Just a quick note on updates- I've got a very hectic schedule of assignments and final exams ahead of me in the following two months so updates may be scarce. I will try to slowly type up new chapters for each of my stories but for now I can only guarantee weekly/bi-weekly updates at the most. I will persevere with this story though as I have planned out the ending already! So I hope you all stick around to see Hope, Lightning and Lumina's escapades unfold! :)**

**Marlia****:****I'm glad you enjoyed chapter one and hope you'll find chapter two just as amusing/cute! :D**

**Now, on with the story!**

**02| Lightning Strikes**

Three hours into his study session Hope had finally completed his statistics homework for the following week's tutorial. He released a sigh of relief as he scouted his study area for any sign of the pink-haired devil child. He was finally left in peace.

For three hours he had been sitting at his self-allocated study area, Lumina had made a point of continuously harassing the silverette in every way possible.

She taunted him.

She physically assaulted him.

For goodness' sake, she even forced him into a game of footsies under his study desk while he was working arduously on a particularly tricky methodological problem. He did not appreciate her idea of helping him 'de-stress'. Not when everything the small pinkette merely added to his already cultivating stress levels.

His mind was already like a stress farm- adding Lumina into the mix, Hope was sure he was ready to quit life and become a hippy.

Hope tilted his head to the side, seriously considering the unorthodox thought.

"I leave you alone for a few minutes and your back to thinking about doing the deed with my sister! You're such a pervert!" Hope yelped in shock as Lumina's rounded face popped up before him.

A few students who were seated nearby turned and glared daggers at Hope, who offered an apologetic look at the annoyed students before turning towards Lumina, exasperated.

"What do you want from me?" Hope moaned as he let his head drop into his folded arms. Lumina merely shrugged and began to poke Hope's shoulder- making a complete nuisance of herself- as always.

"Nothing really- I'm just bored." She replied, nonchalant. Hope groaned and turned to look at the young girl.

"Maybe you should go to school or something. Keep yourself busy." Hope straightened up in his seat and looked the bouncing girl in the eyes. "That way you'll never have to be bored again!" Hope exclaimed, getting excited over the idea of enjoying his 'study' time on level ten in peace. He immediately shut his mouth and winced as an eraser was hurtled his way from his right side.

Lumina grinned at Hope's misfortune and pulled out a chair beside him and sat down, shoving his immaculately piled papers out of her way. Hope made a noise of protest and lunged for his papers before they fell of the table. He managed to catch them before they fell to the floor. Resuming his seated position, he glared at the side of the young girl's head.

"Can you just stop it?" Hope gritted out- visibly annoyed now. No one got away with messing with his academic notes- not even his best friends. He would be damned if he let some snot-nosed brat get away with ruining the fruits of his labour. He squared his shoulders and leaned over the young girl slightly, trying to intimidate her. He wanted her to realise she was messing with the wrong guy. He wanted her to know that she was going to get hurt if she continued to play with the fire that was Hope Estheim.

"Um… no." Lumina deadpanned- replying to Hope's attempt at intimidation with a smouldering glare of her own. The silver haired young man gulped and immediately backed away- internally reprimanding himself for being such a wimp.

He couldn't believe he wasn't able to stand up to a girl that barely reached his shoulder. Hope shook his head; feeling mortified as another thought popped into his head. He couldn't believe he was unable to stand up to a girl.

"A fourteen year old girl." Lumina stated, a grin working its way onto her face. Hope snapped his head in her direction- his eyes wide in alarm.

"You can read my mind?!" Lumina rolled her eyes at the older man and poked him hard in the ribs, earning a yelp of protest in return. Hope watched as she tried her best to suppress a laugh at his 'weakness', fighting off a defeated pout of his own. Men don't pout. Men do not pout!

"No, you moron! You're murmuring your thoughts out loud like someone out of YuGiOh. I really hate that show. Like seriously- no one wants to know your life story Yugi- we just want to see Atem mind crush someone!"

"Aren't you just full of sunshine and daisies?" Lumina rolled her eyes and threw her hands up, exasperated.

"Well if you had to watch a whole marathon on television- you'd feel my pain too!" Hope sighed, bringing two fingers to his temple and massaging it. He decided not to bother asking why she was watching a marathon of YuGiOh in the first place. He knew what the answer would be. She'd briefly mention her 'special privileges' and then begin to abuse his self-esteem once again.

It was then that Hope decided to take a brief glance around the tenth floor while Lumina was off on a tangent about the awful narration of the show. He was startled to see that _she_ was staring right at them.

No… not staring- glaring- at him as Lumina continued to speak, incrementally becoming louder and louder as she delved deeper and deeper into her passionate hate for the narration within the dreaded television show. Hope tore his gaze from the beautiful, yet seething librarian, to see if any of the students around him were getting ready to throw anything at the pink haired demon-child.

Hope grinned internally at the thought- too scared to actually grin in case the librarian caught on to his thoughts. She was Lumina's older sister after all. He couldn't just wish ill upon the smaller pinkette.

Hope glanced down at Lumina who was still speaking passionately- and loudly- beside him. From the corner of his eye, he could see a rather chubby young man reach into a huge pencil case and produce a pristine, white eraser. Hope's eyes widened as he realised what was about to happen. He suppressed his inner joy as the chubby guy aimed at the pink haired girl and tossed the rubber with such precision and speed that it hit the girl right in the centre of her forehead.

Hope was amused at the gaping look of shock she directed at the eraser that had fallen just in front of her folded arms. He chuckled as she opened and closed her mouth, words failing her.

"You were being loud. You asked for it." Hope stated apathetically. Lumina turned to face him.

The moment she did, he began to feel like a total douche bag for being amused in the first place. The younger girl's blue eyes were ready to spill over as she bit her lip, supposedly trying to hold in a cry of pain. He internally winced as he spotted the rapidly forming bruise right in the centre of her forehead.

Before Hope could open his mouth to ask if Lumina was okay, he found himself face-planted on the floor. He groaned and lifted himself off the floor and came to face the back of the librarian's head. Hope nearly began to hyperventilate at the close proximity of their bodies.

She was only a meter away.

Hope gasped as he came to a slow realisation.

"She touched me…" He whispered in amazement, lifting a hand to stroke the sore spot on his shoulder.

He'd been shoved down quite harshly- not that he actually cared. The librarian had actually touched him!

Hope decided that there was never a time in his life where he was happier than he was at that very moment.

He could die happy.

He grinned as he held onto his sore shoulder- feeling light headed and completely in love.

"… follow the rules when you're here." Hope sighed at the sound of the librarian's calm, airy voice. She was perfection.

"He was talking this whole time, so I thought it would be okay!" Hope heard Lumina's high pitched voice whimper. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Her voice was so piercing… so immature and nothing like her older sister's.

Hope gasped as the librarian turned to him, completely disregarding her strict countenance. She was standing right in front of him, and she was paying attention to him. She was looking right at him.

Hope willed his mind not to screw up their first conversation. He went over his hypothesised conversation plan, feeling giddy.

He expected her to approach him and apologise for her troll of a sister and offer to have coffee or something. He expected to wave off the apology and expected to arrange a time and place for their hypothetical coffee date. He expected to begin an epic love story with the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.

He could see his fantasy play out right in front of him- like some kind of dream.

"Oh, he did, did he?" Lumina nodded- her eyes still leaking tears of pain. However, Hope didn't miss the look of mirth forming on her face. He shot a confused look at Lumina before registering that someone had shoved him. "Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?"

Hope gaped at the beautiful woman in front of him.

This was totally not how he expected the conversation to start. The silverette ran a shaking hand through his hair and offered it to the pink haired woman. He decided that the time for introductions was then and there- despite the angry look she was shooting him.

"I'm Hope Estheim." The librarian looked down at his outstretched hand before slapping it away, a look of disgust on her face. Hope frowned- feeling upset at her response.

"Good for you." She dead panned before placing her hands on her hips. "What kind of man just sits there and does nothing to protect a little girl from being assaulted by projectile stationery?" Hope just stood in front of the woman of his dreams, silent. He had not anticipated this turn of events.

"Lightning… it's okay." Lumina piped up. Hope glanced at the she-devil and saw that she was wiping away the last of her tears and was now sporting an apologetic smile towards Hope.

Puzzled, the young man turned back to the woman before him.

He couldn't help the smile that began to form on his face as he came to the realisation that he now knew her name.

His eyes became unfocused as he entered a waking day dream. He felt his heart soaring across the campus, singing out his love's name to everyone who was willing to hear it. He felt his heart tremble at the tenderness of his feelings towards the woman holding his affections. Yet he was so free… so free and young and in love!

"Lightning… NO!" Hope was brought back into the world of reality as his face registered a numb, throbbing pain on its right side. He stumbled to his left from the force and collapsed against the chubby guy's desk.

The chubby guy remained silent- his eyes wide at the pink haired woman who delivered the punch.

Lumina rolled her eyes, seemingly apathetic. However, Hope detected a glint of some other emotion in her eyes. He shook his head- blaming the pain in his face for his mis-perception.

Hope's eyes locked with the glaring, stormy eyes of Lightning the Librarian. He brought his hand up to his cheek, trying to fight off a grin and failing when he came to the realisation that she had touched him again.

Lightning huffed, turning on her heel and stomping off towards the shelves, leaving Hope on the floor with a now hysterically laughing Lumina and a gaggle of shocked university students.

"She touched me…" Hope whispered, rubbing his cheek and wincing at the pain that the contact brought. He shook his head, not able to quell the smile on his face as his thoughts wandered.

She didn't just touch him.

She struck him.

**_Fun fact #2:_ **_Turk 4 Life does indeed take around 1-2 hours to complete her statistics homework because she continually check over her answers in case she screwed up the calculations. She usually works on her own- but on the occasions where she has a friend accompanying her- let's just say that time is very unproductive in terms of academic progress._

_Read and Review please~! :)_


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